Driving 800miles with 350+lbs tongue weight and full cargo...have some questions

[Woody17]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to ask what your opinions were on what I can do to make this trip an easy one on my 4R (04 w/30k, sr5 v6).

Anyway, I'm traveling down to Virginia Beach from New York with a standup jetski on a hitchhaul (see attached). I'm also going to have a trunk full of clothing, gear, tools, coolers w. food, etc.

I've installed the Airlift 1000 and an aux. tranny cooler. My questions to you are as followed:

1) What can I safely make my average speed (is there a speed you don't suggest I go above)?
2) Should I drive to VB with the 4 wheel drive on?
3) Should I run Premium fuel for the hike to help with the extra strain on the motor?
4) Any pre-trip maintenance I should do? Obviously I've changed the oil, topped of the fluids, checked tire pressure...but my front brakes are low. Should I try to change them before I make my trek or should I wait until I return home?

The ski weighs about 315lbs, but it hangs about 30" off the back of the truck. I will add if any can think of any more questions

 

[SportRunner]

Everything sounds good......just make sure that jet ski is tied down good, would be my only concern, as you already have your Airlift 1000 installed, nice job, I think you're all set. :driving:

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to ask what your opinions were on what I can do to make this trip an easy one on my 4R (04 w/30k, sr5 v6).

Anyway, I'm traveling down to Virginia Beach from New York with a standup jetski on a hitchhaul (see attached). I'm also going to have a trunk full of clothing, gear, tools, coolers w. food, etc.

I've installed the Airlift 1000 and an aux. tranny cooler. My questions to you are as followed:

1) What can I safely make my average speed (is there a speed you don't suggest I go above)? It's hard to say, I probably wouldn't run much over "10 over" (75, tops, in a 65). In no case would I excced high 70's.
2) Should I drive to VB with the 4 wheel drive on? I might. It will feel more stable and drive better. (Try it in 2wd and 4wd, go with the better feel.) It would be hard to quantify but a more stable feeling is generally safer...
3) Should I run Premium fuel for the hike to help with the extra strain on the motor? Not necessary but it won't hurt. I probably wouldn't bother.
4) Any pre-trip maintenance I should do? Obviously I've changed the oil, topped of the fluids, checked tire pressure...but my front brakes are low. How low is low? It's only 800 mostly highway miles. If you have a 16 weeks/5k miles left on the pads then do the trip and change the brakes in 12weeeks/3.5k miles. Should I try to change them before I make my trek or should I wait until I return home?

The ski weighs about 315lbs, but it hangs about 30" off the back of the truck. I will add if any can think of any more questions

You have the right vehicle. You have the Airlift. The only thing left to do is load your music, Airlift and have fun!:driving:
:cheers:

 

[Woody17]

thanks guys...

should be good with the tiedowns...i have 6 eyehooks that i'm gonna run the nylon straps across, and then i have 2 more nylon straps for the bow and the stern.

as for the "average speed," i was talking about driving with the ski on the rear...not necessarily the speed for getting tickets. i've driven 65 on the highway with this ski on the back and thats as fast as i think i can go as the car sways much more.

brakes: i'm not a mechanic...however i was able to install the tranny cooler and airlift myself (but a 10 yearold kid can do those lol...both simple). But I don't know exactly how much time I have left on the brakes, other than my mechanic telling me they were low when i did my 30k tune up (at 25k miles).

4wd: do i lose some fuel economy if im in 4wd? alot or maybe 1 mpg?

Thanks!

 

[LBeard87]

4wd

i see no need to be in 4wd, it will definetly cut into your fuel economy. unless you run into a blizzard or go wheelin, don't think you need it. also suggestion for the trip, consider running in 4th gear up hills and such and not DRIVE that way it won't hunt around the gears and cause unessesary down shifting. other than that, have a good trip!

 

[CJ3Flyr]

thanks guys...

...as i think i can go as the car sways much more.

...4wd: do i lose some fuel economy if im in 4wd? alot or maybe 1 mpg?

Thanks!

Some will argue with this but try this for sway: 1) Determine max tire pressure on the sidewall. 2) Set the rear tires to that. It's probably 35psi but maybe 44psi. 3) Set the front to 10% less but not below 32psi on a 'cold' tire. By cold tire I mean driven less than a mile and not sitting in the sun for hours. NOTE: Fill the spare to the same pressure as the rear tires, you may need it...

There's many factors that play into sway. Sometimes slowing the front ends' reaction time down a bit helps.



-4wd vs 2wd seems to cost me 1-1.5mpg on the highway; it's never cost me a full 2mpg.

 

[Woody17]

i see no need to be in 4wd, it will definetly cut into your fuel economy. unless you run into a blizzard or go wheelin, don't think you need it. also suggestion for the trip, consider running in 4th gear up hills and such and not DRIVE that way it won't hunt around the gears and cause unessesary down shifting. other than that, have a good trip!

The v6 only has 4 gears i believe...so I wouldn't have a problem turning the overdrive off by pushing the stick over opposite of the "D" right and running it in 3rd gear

 

[Woody17]

Some will argue with this but try this for sway: 1) Determine max tire pressure on the sidewall. 2) Set the rear tires to that. It's probably 35psi but maybe 44psi. 3) Set the front to 10% less but not below 32psi on a 'cold' tire. By cold tire I mean driven less than a mile and not sitting in the sun for hours. NOTE: Fill the spare to the same pressure as the rear tires, you may need it...

There's many factors that play into sway. Sometimes slowing the front ends' reaction time down a bit helps.



-4wd vs 2wd seems to cost me 1-1.5mpg on the highway; it's never cost me a full 2mpg.

Interesting...thanks for your help. I'll prob. go 1 or 2lbs less than max being that I really want to prevent getting a spare...it would be a real PITA trying to get my spare out with my ski on the back of the truck.

I'm only going to be travelling with my girlfriend, so if I have to change a tire it would be near next to impossible to move the ski to get to the spare by myself.

 

[gizmopt2002]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to ask what your opinions were on what I can do to make this trip an easy one on my 4R (04 w/30k, sr5 v6).

Anyway, I'm traveling down to Virginia Beach from New York with a standup jetski on a hitchhaul (see attached). I'm also going to have a trunk full of clothing, gear, tools, coolers w. food, etc.

I've installed the Airlift 1000 and an aux. tranny cooler. My questions to you are as followed:

1) What can I safely make my average speed (is there a speed you don't suggest I go above)?
2) Should I drive to VB with the 4 wheel drive on?
3) Should I run Premium fuel for the hike to help with the extra strain on the motor?
4) Any pre-trip maintenance I should do? Obviously I've changed the oil, topped of the fluids, checked tire pressure...but my front brakes are low. Should I try to change them before I make my trek or should I wait until I return home?

The ski weighs about 315lbs, but it hangs about 30" off the back of the truck. I will add if any can think of any more questions

Your car is still brand new. My mom has 93k on her '04. And I put 20k on my '95 this summer. (I drive 750ish miles every weekend traveling from college and visiting people)

1) Any speed you feel comfortable. Just make sure that the jet ski is tied down.

2) No. Why would you? Unless its a blizzard, on dry pavement it will put more wear on your vehicle.

3) No, don't waste your money. There is literally no extra strain on your engine. Its made for it.

4) Depends on how low the pads are. Any way you could measure, or put a picture up? I replaced my pads before I went on a 8k mile roadtrip this summer, but there was ~10% left anyways. Honestly, you might be better off putting new ones on before you leave.

Always check your oil. I know the V6 (at least my moms) looses almost none, but you should always check.

Other than that have fun. And go out more often! At this rate you won't even hit 200k til 2042! Do a whole bunch of roadtrips. Your 4runner is just begging to be driven to hell and back.

 

[Woody17]

just wanted to follow up on this thread...got back from my roadtrip yesterday, my 4R performed 50x better than expected with the airlift. after driving for about 2 hrs (of my 7 hr trek) i was able to relax and almost forget that the ski was on the back of there.

thanks all for your input.

-woody

 

[CJ3Flyr]

just wanted to follow up on this thread...got back from my roadtrip yesterday, my 4R performed 50x better than expected with the airlift. after driving for about 2 hrs (of my 7 hr trek) i was able to relax and almost forget that the ski was on the back of there.

thanks all for your input.

-woody

:trophy:Excellent! Glad it went well. AirLift has to be my favorite cheap mods :bigok:

 

[4 Runner Bud]

After seeing this thread, I am ordering my Airlift! Glad you had a good time, and the advice here was great.:nicethread: